Sunday, March 4, 2012

After a jammed packed Saturday and a race-filled morning, whose idea was it to run several errands this afternoon? Oh, yeah – mine.

Apparently my goal is to pack as much as I can into a single weekend. Gah. Rookie mistake. Derek and I hit up Target, Whole Foods, Best Buy, and Publix this afternoon before I had to call uncle. I was wiped and could barely keep my eyes open in Publix. Did we buy all the groceries we needed? I’m not really sure – it was already nap time in my mind.

We came home and I slept for two hours straight. Man did I need that.

Before we ran our errands, Derek and I split the pizza and salad left overs from the weekend. I had two slices of last night’s pizza and the last of Friday night’s salad.

That lunch didn’t hold me over for long. I ended up purchasing a small thing of a butternut squash based soup in Whole Foods as a pick-me-up snack. Random, but delicious.

After my two hour nap, Derek assisted me in preparing what I had originally planned for Friday night’s dinner – roasted vegetables and meatballs!

The vegetables (beets, parsnips, yellow bell pepper, and cauliflower)

The meatballs

Simple Turkey Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey

3 tbsp spicy mustard

3 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp fresh parsley

1 tbsp chili powder

1 cup panko bread crumbs

salt and pepper

Combine everything in a large mixing bowl, form into balls, and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

The complete meal (w/ bread)

And a beer to wash it all down with. 🙂

For dessert I had some of the pastries my dad had purchased this morning. My dad wasn’t a fan, but I thought they were pretty good.

Before I head to bed, I wanted to share what my sister posted on DailyMile about today’s race. If you ever start doubting your abilities and training – read this. Trust me. Just further proof that you never truly know how a race is going to go until you start it.

This morning I woke up questioning my ability to reach my goal of sub 1:50 or even PR (under 1:51:37). My legs were a bit sore/tired from my fast 5k yesterday. Plus it was pouring rain and super windy on our way to the start line of the half. Thank goodness the rain stopped just in time. I started the race feeling sluggish. Thank goodness Meghann was by my side pulling me forward. I agreed to keep an 8:15 pace at the start of the race and I tried my best to keep that or under. At the 5 mile marker I took a goo gel. By mile 7 I was starting to feel better than I did the previous miles. Maybe it was the goo energy kicking in? I played “Til I Collapse” by Eminem on repeat on my ipod and that really got my legs moving. I realized that the 8 minute pace I was holding on accident felt great and decided to trust my legs and go with it. The wind gusts were getting stronger but I kept telling myself “No excuses” and fought through the bursts of resistance. I started tackling the race one mile at a time. Once I hit mile 12 I thought only about making it to the next quarter mile. I repeated my favorite mantras in my head for motivation. I thought about how hard and challenging teaching has been (teaching high schoolers is no joke!), how hard it was to complete my masters degree and how much easier running is than anything else that is difficult in my life. I realized that my 1:50 goal was in the bag, but I wanted more. As much time below 1:50 as I could get my hands on. I saw my parents cheering on the side (and my Dad in Meghann’s small pink jacket). I tried to wave, but I was hurting. Seeing the finish line was such a sweet sight. I fist pumped once I crossed the finish line and looked down to see my time. 1:47:10. Where the hell did that awesome run come from?!

We came. We ran. We claimed our booty. Boo-yah! Truthfully, we weren’t sure the race was even going to happen as we drove to the start this morning. The forecast looked bleak and the downpour of rained mixed with 40mph+ gusts of wind resembled a monsoon outside. My parents couldn’t help, but laugh as they more »